Sweet Snow-A-Long, Wk 3

by Great Joy Studio | Aug 12, 2020 | Quilting & Fabric

Hi Again!

How’s everyone doing with their Snow-A-Long quilt?

Have everything fused?

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Sew far, sew good I hope.

Speaking of sewing, here is where it gets tricky for me!! I soar at drawing and cutting but sewing makes me a bit nervous, still.

This week we are

securing/stitching

your raw edge appliqué pieces down and

trimming

the blocks. You can also do any additional decorative stitching or embroidering at this time. Decorative stitch guidelines are provided on your patterns. Although the fabrics do much of the work in this quilt, the gingerbread blocks are perfect candidates for some fancy thread work either by hand or machine.

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I have several photos that will show you our sewing process. I used a blanket style stitch (under the quilting stitch guide on my machine) for the edges. That is the one I am most comfortable using with my skill level but feel free to choose any that you like. I am certain that all of you have more sewing experience than myself so I look forward to seeing and/or hearing about your personal choices for this step. My understanding is that with raw edge appliqué you want a stitch that will help to keep the edges from fraying should the fusible product let loose with washings and use. However, I’m seeing the trends for raw edge appliqué and looks like anything (personal preference) goes!! And I like that.

Please #snowalong and #snowsweetfabric progress photos on social media so we can find and add to our

Pinterest board!

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I also chose to use the same thread color as my appliqué fabrics. Again this was to better blend in and hide any of my stitching errors. If you want the appliqué art to stand out more you may want to try black and possibly some sketchy free motion which I love and hope to learn some day. I used Aurifil cotton 50 wt thread for all appliqué sewing.

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With so many blocks to stitch down, I did all of the white first, then black, red, and so on. Soon you will have them all finished.

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Time to trim.

This is done after the stitching to allow for any shrinkage that possibly took place. Be sure to leave yourself a quarter of an inch for a seam allowance on all four sides of each block finish size. Block finish sizes are stated on your pattern. Some images like the gingerbread house is intended to sit on the bottom seam line of the block. So I trimmed to the one quarter inch mark at bottom and sides.

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Once all are trimmed, post on your design wall and enjoy seeing your quilt come together!

I love that part.

And I love this Snow Sweet collection from Riley Blake Designs!

Widely available in shops now, but it’s going fast.

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See you next Thursday.